


Just like us.

by Nataco



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27090016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nataco/pseuds/Nataco
Summary: Ruby and Christina are caught by Leti's camera. It causes some tension about how to explain this all to the child they are raising.
Relationships: Christina Braithwhite/Ruby Baptiste, Ruby/Christina
Comments: 36
Kudos: 212





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy this sweet little one shot before the finale tonight. 😭 I'm not ready y'all. But, I'm waiting for the finale to add to the second part of that other story which is coming, just need more strings to tie the story to the last bits of canon we get. My fingers stay crossed for a season 2 but, i'm not going to hold my breathe on that happening. Or that we will get more Ruby x Christina action ya'know.

"Hey hey at least take off your jacket before you go off with your cousin." Ruby held her hand out expectedly.

She watches Clio slip his uniform jacket off and place it gently in her hand. She barely had time to kiss the top of his brown curls as he tears off after George. George yells back to her, "Bye Aunt Ruby."

Clio fades in the distance, "Bye momma." That boy she thinks. He looks so much like her but carries his father in his curiosity and the bounce of his curls. It has its benefits and drawbacks. Around family and people who look like them both he's surrounded by love even with the few wide eyed glances. Around people that favor his father, all he gets is rolled glances and the occasional nervous smile. All with his father's watchful eyes behind him.

Ruby strides up to the porch of the house her son forced his way into. That's something she can no longer do, cross that threshold, without warning. The house occasionally lets her enter through its dried veil of protection. For some strange reason even with the magic that courses through her veins it doesn't feel threatened but when she's stumbled over no warning the barrier is iron clad. 

Leti is at the door a cloth in between her hands staring down at her sister. Her sister done up in an outfit that probably costs more than her entire camera. She is glad Ruby finally has a kind of life she deserves but at what cost. This strained relationship or the pressure of keeping her feelings a secret. Not the ones her sisters eyes sheen with when William is near but the ones that fight when Christina is. This world was not ready for whatever they could really be unrestricted, Leti worries for her sister. Worries if they stopped caring completely, didn't have the tether that was Clio, if they'd get themselves killed or on a most wanted list.

"Hi Ruby," Leti leans on the door frame.

"Letitia," Ruby says standing taller, it's cold and she means the ice that comes from the short greeting. They haven't had an actual conversation since the last time they had a family dinner. Just an argument over some pictures. Pictures that were tucked into her husband's study awaiting their decision. 

"Oh come on Ruby it was a few photos and yall look nice together," Leti throws her hands up, "as nice as two", she whispers," witches can."

Ruby rolls her eyes and steps onto the porch making her way to a rocking chair. Leti leaves her home’s entrance and sits next to her sister. They had a hard time talking to one another and it was never going to happen if neither of them initiated it. At least when they did Ruby told her almost the whole truth. "I know I should have asked but you know I love a good, candid photo more than anything." Leti sighs her hands wrapped around the towel.

Ruby sits her purse on the wooden boards and side eyes her younger sister. "I...we don't want to confuse Clio. He's happy he lives a somewhat normal life. It took a hell of a lot of convincing to not have his father move back to Massachusetts."

Leti chuckles, his "father" really they still think keeping William around distances themselves from the truth. Well now that she thinks of it William was a safety net for them. A powerful white man could do almost anything he wanted, a white woman could not. The truth was still in the air though and it buzzed between her sister and him or her whoever stood next to her solid sister like a smoke stack.

"What's so funny Leti," Ruby raises a brow.

"Just funny how you pretend even around someone who knows everything." Leti doesn't mince her words as she drapes the cloth over her shoulder. 

"Pretend? I don't know what you mean." Ruby says nonchalantly even though she knows exactly what her younger sister is getting at.

"Y'all pretend like you and Christina didn't make Clio together. William isn't his....they are the same person and you still don't wanna see you fell in love with her." Leti has asked Tic if he thinks the two women are in love and he laughed saying Ruby loves what she can get, not who she gets it from. She almost smacked him for that.

"It might not be safe for people off this porch to know that but it's me Ruby. I'm your sister and I see the way she looks at you. Just tell me if yaknow." Leti sits back in her chair. She was supposed to be the one stressing Ruby out not the other way around.

Ruby rests her cheek on her hand thinking of the night they got the pictures Leti took. Christina showing Clio the pictures of himself and his family. Explaining something about posture that Ruby didn't care much for. He was a kid not a robot but she let it go. Christina even outside of William tries her best to be a good father. Even though she was robbed of one and an actual childhood. Ruby is on the couch feet propped up thumbing through the rest of the photos Leti dropped off. They were mainly in a makeshift photo album but a few sat in the envelope ruby now opened.

Leti mentioned them being more for her but Ruby had 0 clue what that meant.

Going through the photos of her singing with her son and sisters she stops and chokes. Chokes on the wine going down the wrong path until she coughs for air. Christina moved slowly to her side and a hand on her back. After assuring both Christina and Clio she was fine they put him to bed, together. Ruby is tense the entire time and jumps when Christina's hand meets her wrist outside of his closed bedroom door. 10 minutes later they are in the living room on the couch sipping wine in silence.

Ruby is reeling internally over the photos that Christina is flipping through. She watches those fingers trace the small white edges on each photo until they falter. There it is Ruby thinks but other than a slight falter in movement Christina is fine. She even turns the photos to Ruby before speaking. It starts a hushed conversation that turns into a hushed disagreement in the kitchen.

"You keep saying pictures don't lie Ruby. So what do you want to do, get rid of it." Ruby watches Christina say while shaking the two pictures in her fingers. They are thrown on the kitchen island and Ruby looks away from them. Shame, no. Ruby wasn't ashamed ever or she tried to make herself believe. She birthed a whole child made of magic, the literal and metaphorical kind. Shame just wasn't something she was used to feeling.

"Yes, isn't that what you wanna do. We have a gas stove and a fireplace," Ruby hushes strongly to the blonde. The blonde who is shaking her head slowly, her face a mix of hurt and restraint. Ruby watches the clenching jaw of the other woman in their kitchen. She stares into the blue eyes she's compartmentalized as her husband's not Christina's. Stares into the fire until it breaks into a smolder of ash. Christina hates that she can do that so easily. Pick at loose edges that Christina was still dealing with herself, without talking.

"Fine," Christina turns and starts to head to the staircase before diverting to the basement, "I'm sleeping down here tonight." Their home had spare bedrooms, so it was an unnecessary last power struggle. She only makes it as far as drifting off in pages that are stained with what Christina ignores as tears. Ruby gives it an hour or two in a cold empty bed before joining her partner down there.

They work on a new body they've acquired in silence but she doesn't miss the dried lines on the taller woman's cheeks. After the blood is scrubbed clean from their work station and hands, Ruby drags the taller woman upstairs to their bed. It's with reluctance from Christina that she isn't used to but she gives with some pull.

"Just sleep," Ruby says most nights when it's them together, no outer shells, no husks, just them. Nights when Christina isn't out in the middle of the night as herself or William causing havoc. Christina facing away from her, moonlight casting against her shoulder, a pillow between them. Sleep is what Ruby intends on every time but it still ends with her covering her own moans into the night. The pillow in between them tossed to the floor, marks from her hands over Christina's skin, a blonde head between her legs making her cry out "I hate you" so quietly. 

It was complicated. William went on a trip two days after that. He'd be back soon, he always told Ruby, and he would. He always came back to her. 

"Clio asked me why Christina dresses in his dad's clothes and they share the bathroom. So the pictures of me and his dad's friend looking at eachother like that doesn't help right now," Ruby sighs.

Leti opens her mouth in shock before echoing, "Wait he knows." In the back of her head she remembers a picture that should be the concern not the one of them ogling each other.

"He's putting it together. He saw her in the bathroom apparently the other week after the change. Before her trip," Ruby rubs her temples before continuing. "Saw her walk in as his father and walk out looking like....well her in his dad's robe."

Leti drops her jaw, Christina has been gone for almost a month now.

"He asked me this morning and I called her so whenever she decides to come home we make up a new lie. I thought him coming over here might curb his questions."

"What did you tell him," Leti asks curiously, "Wait, decides? You gave her a choice."

"Made up a story about our house having secret passageways." Ruby exhales the weight of this resting fully on her shoulders. No white man or woman to toss it to. "I told her I want her to come home, but she decides if she listens or not."

Leti laughs.

"What are you laughing about? I got the idea from your house," Ruby chuckles.

After the moment of humor and sisterhood wears off ruby sighs feeling the weight of motherhood settle back. "The worst part isn't that he saw or I might have to tell him the truth. It's that he lied for almost 3 weeks about it." 

Ruby relaxes into the chair enjoying the Chicago heat. She feels Leti s hand on hers and grins sadly at her sister. Three weeks of waiting for phone calls at night that went from short to long as the nights continued. Three weeks of her son putting together pieces of his father's closet together. Pieces that didn't look the same but still fit. Three weeks of asking the little boy who shares her eyes and nose if he was okay but he just smiled and said yes.

"He's supposed to be better than her... than me....than us." Ruby shakes her head and looks away. She never denied that she has become somewhat a pariah under the Braithwhite's favors.

"Hey it's not you, you're a good mother Ruby Baptiste. Kids lie it happens. It doesn't mean he's gonna turn into some blonde megalomaniac," Leti rattles out.

"Watch it Leticia, that's my w..." Ruby starts and then catches herself.

Leti leans in, " Aw come on just say it you know you want to. Your woman," Leti whispers.

Ruby rolls her eyes and motions for her sister to continue.

"Anyways kids are kids, yea they pick up things but they are also their own people too. No matter how much me and Tic try to get George to open up sometimes he's too damn stubborn. He'll sit and give me the same look I used to give momma. It scares me, how much he's like me and like tic, but when he talks he's just him. Clio is just as much his own person as he is bits of you....and her. Water the good parts." Leti feels sure in those words.

Leti looks down the street at a glare in the distance and narrows her eyes. She taps Ruby who is thankfully thinking her words over.

"When did you get so good with words," Ruby says, pushing her tears back.

"I had a great older sister as a teacher," Leti removes her hand from her sisters and points with her head to the street. "It seems the woman who you pretend doesn't look at you like you shit roses, or should I say Clios' dad is here." 

Leti stands up and makes her way outside her door. She had to accept them in and even if it always put her in high alert Christina was welcome even as William with Ruby. Not by herself though, fuck that kind of evil entering her house alone. Unless she brought something of interest.

Ruby clears her throat thank goodness her desires still mattered to the woman who drove that silver Bentley. She probably sped home which was one thing she never got the woman to stop doing. Ruby straightens her posture, "I know she does Leti trust me. I just spare you the earth and spine shattering details."

Ruby laughs watching Leti gag on air. They were going to be okay or in a better place as long as they talked. Both sisters turn back to the silver Bentley parking behind Ruby's jaguar. Ruby remembers the day William took her to the dealership and the white salesman white knuckled his way through the paperwork. Fist held so tight to papers she thought he'd pass out. It's dark green with a black leather interior and wood trim. Flashy but subtle. A gift for her latest spell she crafted alone.

Not their son, an actual spell. The best gifts after Clio was born was shared responsibility and twice the body rubs.

The silver drivers door swings open and long legs stretch out of the car. Dark blue slacks and a white shirt buttoned to the collar sit on a thin cocky frame. Christina closes the door and glides in her oxfords towards the house she's been denied entry countless times. Her hair is much longer since those earlier times and the shape has changed ever so slightly. Her approach is still the same as her first adventure to Hiram"s old haunted house of horror. She holds the clipping of flowers behind her back as she makes her way to the two women on the porch. Romantic gestures aren't her thing but they are William's and even when she isn't in his skin he's leaked into her behaviors.

"Hi Letitia," 

"Hi," Leti mumbles glancing at her sister to know if she should stay or go. Not because she wants to see them eye fuck but so others don't catch on that they aren't all just very good friends.

Christina nods to Ruby, "Do we do this now or later." 

"Later ,"Ruby says shaking her head, "Are those flowers?"

"Maybe," Christina steps onto the porch closing some distance between them.

"For me you shouldn't have," Leti exaggerates which garners two equally annoyed looks.

Ruby takes the flowers from Christina's fingers; she lets their fingertips touch and watches the way her partner relaxes. It's a good sign that the trip wouldn't have been much longer even if Ruby hadn't called.

"Y'all gonna come inside or keep doing that on my porch," Leti says stepping through the door. They both enter the home with no resistance and the door is shut behind them.

"Thankyou for the photos Leti," Christina says, patting her pocket. Ruby glances and sees a familiar corner in the pocket. Snatching it from her lovers pocket before she can be stopped. It's the photo that made her heart almost stop on the couch but it's a bit comforting knowing Christina took it with her. It's of her and Christina locked in a kiss away from the rest of Leti's house party. It was meant to be brief but they were very lucky Leti is the only person who'd seen them sneak off together.

She flips the photo over and sees her sisters cursive in pen, Ruby and her husband. Ruby shakes her head and hands it back to Christina. Christina who has a face that looks like she's afraid Ruby might destroy the image right there.

"Don't crease it, I wanna find somewhere to keep it," she nods which makes Christina smile. Leti is disgusted by the looks on their faces. But, happy for her sister everyone deserves someone who would burn the world for them if they could, and as they all found Christina could.

"Daddy," is excitedly laughed out from a smiling child and all three women's eyes go wide watching Clio run into Christina's legs. His arms wrapping around her ankles looking up at her with happiness and relief. Christina brushes her hand over his curls before mouthing to Ruby what the fuck.

Leti rubs her brow and yells out, "George!"


	2. 6 months of trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just reflections Ruby has while watching over 6 month old Clio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Started to write this second part as a pick me up from the election. Which eye have 🦋 in relief. Also started writing this, as a change of pace from the other LCC fic 'Dollars in the Swear Jar' and my Euphoria fic, which is wrapping up. A small part of this was inspired by a lovely gif from kcwhateverspace. As always comments are welcome, thankyou for reading.

Ruby lays on her side, she listens closely to the sounds inside and outside the home. Her head rests on her hand as she stares at the 6 month old sleeping next to her. His curly head tucked to the side, tiny curls of brown and highlighted brown. Tightly wound spirals that gave her the worst heartburn for 8 out of the 9 months. Christina learned how to peel pineapple just so she could have the slightest relief. His long legs grow longer each day. He's quiet and observant while attempting to crawl too early. Too early according to doctors, friends, and everyone except for Christina and Hippolyta. Ruby watches his sleeping face that resembles more of her than his father.

It gives her relief.

Chubby cheeks, deep tan skin that gets darker by the day, and miniature features of her own that distract from the ones that aren't. His slightly dimpled chin dried with milk by mid morning. He is hers, a black child, but he has eyes that she dares to get any lighter. Blue eyes that sparkle and look at the world with a curious craving. They will get lighter. She can sense it every time he coos in her arms staring up at her, but they won't protect him. Blue eyes won't save him not in this world where he will still be seen as another black boy. Not her son, not his father's, but just another boy. They will forever be a reminder of his genetics that so many see as unnatural. A reminder of a world that will never open their arms to him. It was enough he was biracial, a new term, he was also a child born out of wedlock. These worries keep her up at night staring out the window, her sheets cold. 

This afternoon she is watching him take in and expel air from his little lungs. Ruby is just as terrified that he will stop breathing on his own and she is the world will do it for him. He is so pure and untouched by the world around him. She worried the magic that brought him into this world would deform him somehow. Not physically, but emotionally maybe he would come out unable to cry. Crying and screaming loudly into a dimly lit room is what he did on June 7th 1957. The fear was passed to her like a lukewarm potato by her sister. Leti whose fears faded when George came out healthy, happy, and normal 2 years ago. 

Clio, after the muse of history was pulled from a list of suggestions from Hippolyta and Dee. 

Christopher, Ruby surprised Christina with the suggestion during a tense supper weeks before his birth. 

They both had been on edge since Ruby showed all the signs of morning sickness but her due date was so close the tension was sharper. Sharp like the knife Christina used to cut a piece of cheese block, the knife that slammed into the cutting board hard. Hard in shock at Ruby's question of his middle namesake after the woman who cut cheese wedges for her at 11pm. It was what Ruby could give the woman who would be a parent, where William showed up as his father. Christina's face would be known as a family friend, to a child they would have to hope would not get too curious. 

In the living room Ruby now stares at the cause of her nausea 15 months ago. 15 months ago Christina on the telephone rambling to some connection about needing a bullfrog and pee. She asked Ruby about 40 times to just let her use magic to be sure, but Ruby denied her the privilege. Christina had the money for a pregnancy test and Ruby wanted more than a magical yes or no. She needed science and medicine not spells and potions. Ruby had her head in her hands bouncing her knee with nerves. How was this even possible? It shouldn't be, finding out William's true nature made her reckless. Reckless in how often she let him have his way with her as long as it was on her terms. Her call to his response was rarely no.

The first signs of a possible baby between her and technically William. Well, Christina via William's form. Their family was sure of that now, by the slight dent in Clio's chin. Signs of pregnancy replayed in Ruby's mind while Christina opened her pockets over the phone. Signs like Christina wiping her chin after one of the times they "weren't supposed to be having sex" in their own bodies. Christina was ravenous in a new way and noted bleary eyed that Ruby tasted different. Other signs were an upturned breakfast at Leti's and the growing tenderness of her breast. It was enough for Ruby to sit down and at least ask Christina if it was possible in the slightest.

"I do not know how to raise a child," Christina said coldly. They were the first words from Christina when Ruby finally said the word pregnant. Ruby was not offended because she felt the same. Felt she had experience raising children, but that she was not ready to be a mother. Not ready to be anyone else's mother because she has an almost 30 year old child running around with a baby on her own arm. She still fought with Christina even though she understood because Christjna assumed she didn't. Ruby also assumed Christina really meant that she did not know how to raise a black child. 

They fight like they never have before and it gets heated. Rolled eyes and cutting each other off while Ruby grows increasingly irritated and tired. More and more as the woman turned every point on its head. Ruby raised her voice to match the vigor of the other woman as the passion grew between them. Ruby was about to rebuttal claims that the unborn child inside her was not Christina's, but still Christina's responsibility. "William's body, her actions, her words." Ruby was about to snap that this child was as much her's as it was Ruby's, if they even got that far, but Ruby felt her stomach flip and ran to the closest bathroom.

For the night, they drop the conversation.

William is pressing her forehead with a cool rag the next afternoon. Ruby is watching 'The Price is Right' with her head in the living room, her feet propped up on an ottoman. The rag is cool on her forehead as the man sitting next to her presses it to her temple. She yawns, the pregnancy hormones already starting to affect her sleep cycle. William clears his throat, "I can't promise I won't kill someone if they harm our child."

"I won't ask that of you." Ruby yawns focusing on his face. She knows what he's capable of in this form. Not just spells and potions, but William has a presence. A presence that towers over even men taller than himself. A mixture of bravado and grace that charmed people without much effort. Until people got too comfortable or just out right disrespectful, then his mask would slip. His stare is friendly but his eyes menacing like getting caught in a hidden bear trap. 

Ruby has scrubbed the dried blood from white linen shirts by hand. He could just throw them out and buy another, but she didn't like his excessive urge to waste. She did not want to one day be seen as something to be discarded in excess. Ruby was aware that Christina made a choice that night, but had not discarded her. She was aware that while she almost ended up a sacrifice that the initial decision had not been made easily. Even though everyone outside of it was skeptical (shit even she was at times) Ruby believes Christina when she says she cares. She believes the curve of the woman's eyes that express her uncertainty and her affections.

William's eyes study her face, "You are keeping this child." His voice is relaxed but his eyes hold fear. 

"We are," Ruby glances at the TV and then back at him. His hand pulls the rag away from her forehead and she sees him shutter. The reality is settling in for Christina, park dates, a stroller, and so so many more firsts. It's terrifying and exhilarating all at once.

Christina inhales and William exhales all the tension in her body, "Okay."

Ruby waits for his eyes to meet her again before she offloads what she has been having revelations about. "I do need to ask that you see this child in their blackness. While they are as gray as your morals, even though we live in the north, they are still one drop of me. I will not have them deny that part of themselves no matter how light they show up. If you cannot do that, I can find a way to raise them on my own with my family." Ruby says all of this without faltering under his gaze that is so much more inviting than his marionette master. Talking to him is easier.

Ruby watches William's warm gaze become sad and it shocks her a bit. She tries not to show it, but she sees the way his jaw relaxes and his stare moves off of her. The disconnect makes Ruby want to see the woman underneath but that is hours away. So she pushes that curiosity back into recess. Christina almost creeped out in his reaction and she re-collects herself in his skin. Ruby sees the way Christina recomposes his demeanor and turns back to her as him. 

"I promise," William starts, "please just don't deny me our family."

Ruby feels herself start to choke up and nods. Our family, hers and his, not Leti' not Atticus' their own. She slips her hand to his knee aimlessly because it is easy. Easy to trust William in his instincts usually, but that trust was hard to give to the woman who puppeteered his frame. Especially after a foiled equinox plan still kept Christina in the basement at late hours devising a new plan. Hours that became far less as months would go on and Ruby showed more and more. Christina watched as Ruby found it hard to wobble down the steep staircase, with her balance off by the child inside her. Ruby was just being careful of the placement of the feet she could not see beneath her unborn child. The next day Christina hired men to put an entire simple bed frame set in the sitting room and she made the bed up with Ruby's favorite sheets. Their sitting room that is close to the basement door and the kitchen, should Ruby need anything. She does these things without a conversation needed between them. 

Ruby catches Christina drifting to sleep on the mattress. Her blonde hair strewn across 400 count green pillowcases and body settling into sleep. She watches the woman fall deeper into sleep and rolls her eyes. Normally she would wake the woman up so she can sleep in her own bed, but she doesn't. Ruby chooses instead to get as comfortable as she could 8 1/2 months pregnant, on her own side. The most comfortable position she finds is using the lengthy white woman as a body pillow, her head tucked onto Christina's shoulder. A cool touch wakes her up and she sleepily opens her eyes to the dark room. Long fingers rest gently on her exposed moisturized belly, an extended thumb brushing back and forth over her skin. The brushing settles gentle kicks and feet that press from inside her belly. An active child who was not on their bedtime who woke them both. Ruby pulls her sleepy gaze from the hand resting gently on her skin to piercing blue eyes. She swallows hard at the eyes that don't move from her gaze. Christina slowly leans forward cautiously and Ruby meets her. Softly they kiss until a hard kick from their unborn child has them both laughing.

Basement studies were almost non-existent after that and Ruby feels the stare of her lover around more. They don't discuss the change in pace and anxious energy in the air that surrounds their affections. Even though Ruby believed Christina cares for her and their unborn child, she still does not trust her instincts. Where William is hot headed and passionate, Christina is not. Ruby understands that's because she cannot be. She knows Christina's whiteness gives her so much and her womanhood so little. The large awning of whiteness over society shields Christina from the rain, but water still spits in her face.

Christina holds an umbrella out over Ruby and Clio's heads.

Even though Ruby does understand the limits of womanhood, it's Christina's drive in a white woman's body that keeps her sleeping with one eye open. If a spell called for her to cut off all human desires and tethers for a chance of immortality, Ruby knew the woman would take it. The lack of empathy doesn't make Ruby ache for the domesticity they are creeping towards, it sends her considering things. Remedies to their "problem" because she knew someone, so did Leti, and she was sure if she wanted to go that route Christina would not intervene. The woman would probably drive Ruby there herself and wait outside full of anxiety. Until Ruby stumbled out of someone's backdoor or front, rid of their problem. Or she could take their problem, who she decided to nickname trouble in the womb, and leave Christina behind. At least Christina kept her promises, even after betraying her. Yet, there is no obligation binding them together outside of that child. 

No obligation to an unspoken relationship besides the way Christina's eyes would go wide with concern. A concern that was there even before a baby was present. Whenever Ruby came home later than normal or stormed past Christina during a disagreement. Ruby thought about leaving the blonde witch all alone in that house a few times. Ruby would be sitting at Sammy's bar drinking across from the drunk that was Montrose. Considering her options and if the relationship was doomed from the start, but she usually found herself back next to not under an icy stare. 

Clio is two months old when Ruby starts to feel less like something bad is bound to happen. It is also, when she starts to see his father soften. Soften in the new firsts that they experience with Clio's existence. Leti coos at the baby in her arms as she bounces him in her lap. His dark blue eyes happy and his babble loud. Ruby leans an arm against Woody as she watches her sister and son in the back seat. Their laughs match the essence of the season around them.

The street is full of summer warmth and joy. Laughter up and down the street from local white children. Hippolyta, Dee, and Leti came by the house after spending the day doing errands together. A short conversation ended in Ruby suggesting lunch in the garden. Having a newborn left little time for socializing and Ruby missed people. Christina was definitely not keeping her hostage, with both William and Christina offering to take her wherever she wanted in the new gray Bentley or the Pontiac. Ruby was just too tired feeding Clio and studying magic to be bothered to beg others for companionship. 

Hippolyta is setting up lunch in the front garden that has privacy hedges. To keep others out not to keep them in, Ruby had to tell both of her adult guests this to ease their concern. Hippolyta wouldn't let her help hoping to give ruby a break from waiting on someone else. Ruby does quietly revel in the fact that no one has realized, she is the one being waited on. She hears loud giggles and laughs coming from the street. A group of neighbor children had been playing since before Woody pulled into the partially empty driveway. 

Ruby looks up from her sister to see the kids running around across the street. They are playing hide and go seek and she sees pale blonde hair peek from behind a tree. A woman darts from the base of the tree and is chased by a little boy. She sidesteps him until her aqua shoes land on a curb as she reaches a shorter tree. A long pale arm grabs onto a tree branch above her head. Ruby hears Christina's voice yell, "I'm safe, I'm safe." Christina turns around and their eyes meet. Ruby lets a small smile tug towards the woman who returns the expression. Clio's father was learning how to have fun, a good sign even with the push and pull of their own relationship.

That push and pull is what got her in this predicament Ruby knows. It is intoxicatingly comfortable. She thinks of all these things and memories staring at the still sleeping baby boy. The front door opens and shuts heavily. A cold draft quickly disappears in the warmth of the house. Ruby hears wool covered footsteps coming toward the main living room. The blue sunlight streams in from the curtains and the fireplace is warm. This place has almost started to feel like home. She sits her chin up on her forearm to greet the man or woman coming her way. A butterfly in her stomach flutters at the anticipation of whose face would show around the corner. Her brain buzzes when Christina's face appears flushed as she pulls leather gloves off. A hand knitted scarf hanging loosely around her neck, a gift from a friend of Ruby's "for her nice gentleman". The multi-toned scarf always looks so out of place under Christina's mink lined coat or proudly over William's leather bomber jacket. The buzz in her brain is happy and it creeps up on her. It creeps into a small smile that forms whenever William or Christina enters a room to immediately find her with blue eyes. Ruby groans internally at the fondness she has for this woman.

"I checked out some trees, I thought I could get one, for in here....if you wanted," Christina whispers. She slowly pads closer to Ruby and her sleeping child. Her blue eyes deflecting from the woman, who is very obviously avoiding staring at her rosy cheeks and flushed lips. Christina feels Ruby adjust to sit on her knees to hear the woman clearer. Instead she stares at the little sleeping bundle of joy in her life. A soft spot in her resolve that she thought was as impenetrable as Chicago winter, until his mother came into her life with her demanding presence. She grins softly at her son, Clio Christopher Braithwhite-Baptiste. His face is beautiful and perfect, she is excited to hear his voice and see his budding personality. But, she loves how small he is in her arms no matter which body she is in. She adores how he cries so loudly until he is cradled against her. His blue eyes sparkle and mimic hers no matter what body she inhibits. He looks at her like he knows who she is despite wearing a different face around him. He looks at her with a sparkle that names her his father. She cannot help to fall in the feeling of calm that washes over her, every time she sees his face even in public. The moment her face is not on him around bystanders the world gets a hard jaw and faked pleasantries. 

She hears their whispers even on the Southside where Ruby felt safe. People who look like her son and unspoken partner; glaring at William, averting wide eyes from Clio, and murmurs of unholy matrimony even during a Sunday service. Dee was shocked William didn't burn the minute he stepped into the church an arm around Ruby's waist. They could all chew glass for all she cared. Their son would always be an outsider to someone, but Christina wanted to try her best to make him happy. Give him the happy childhood she never had. Give him the father her own never was with her mother's softness in death to guide her. His own mother would guide him in ways she could not , even if his mother still was wary of her. Wary was good though, Christina was not sure how she would react if the woman gave her all of herself at once. It was okay with her that Ruby did not trust her completely because she didn't expect it. Christina never had expectations for Ruby or Ruby's actions, so her lack of trust was okay. It also was okay that Ruby favors William's hands than Christina's. Although when Ruby looks at her like that, she wonders if the other woman is just denying them both of the truth. Christina does not mind parading around in her human comfort blanket, as long as she got to be a part of their lives. Her family was her tether to this world outside of magic.

Without them, she would try again and succeed this time. Her hubris aside.

"That's fine," Ruby says and feels her head tip up toward the woman.

Christina glances at her lips the same way Ruby looks at the blondes. Christina fully intends to make Ruby an honest woman one day, but not a kept one. Just for optics she tells herself. Should magic backfire against her fatally they would be more than financially secure with no legal statements to contest. If Ruby accepts one day. Christina wants to kiss her but Ruby knows she is waiting for permission. 

Ruby wets her lips and nods, "That is fine too."

Christina pulls her lip between her teeth before she bends down. Ruby's lips are soft and ample as they press against her own. Her tongue gentle against Christina's as Chris cups Ruby's jaw. Her cheeks flush at the subtle noises of air coming from the kneeling woman. Their noses bump and Ruby feels a toothy smile against her own when she goes back for more. Christina pulls back first with a quiet sigh. Her eyes open quickly to catch Ruby chasing her lips a bit, eyes close. The distance between their faces grows and Christina stands back up. She wants to make out with Ruby like a lovesick teenager, but she actually is quite hungry after all day in the cold and snow. Soft hands with painted red nails cup her hand before she can retract her caress. Christina turns her head away to conceal her shock. The timing convenient places her eyes to the happy cooing coming from the floor. He is still asleep but he is dreaming. It's as if she can feel both of their hearts swell in the room. Christina feels Ruby moving, she is still holding her hand. A gentle tug of her hand pulls her to look away from the sleeping boy.

"Oh, dinner. Should I cook ?" Christina questions and Ruby holds her laugh.

There was no way Christina was cooking for her at this hour. "Slow cooker, but let's eat out here. I want to keep my eye on him." Ruby drops Christina's hand and watches the woman saunter happily on her way to the kitchen. Trust or not, Ruby enjoyed watching the woman's refined walk have a pep to it.


	3. Pond skipping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1967 Christina is home from a work trip to England   
> *might get re-uploaded with more grammar edits.  
> ..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a homo, le baguette so I'm not using terms in a homophobic way. Just this is how gays talk sometimes so yea reclaimed slurs love to see it. Watching Equal and got some insight on the 60s, also i used old 1960s sears catalogs to get an idea of the outfits. Highly suggest the docu series on hbo max.
> 
> I figure Adam which is an actual dead language might be a mix of Aramaic, Hebrew, and maybe bits of some African languages. I could not find anything on how the show contrived their adamic but i did find 1967 clothing catalogues. I kind of go hard with the research and if anyone wants to see the clothes or the house addition drop a comment.

1967 Chicago.

Hail patters on the windows as the wind blows through the streets of the upper north side. Rain pelts on the roof and the cracked open windows let in the smell of fresh air. The sound of whipping wind or lightning fills the energy of blue skies.

Clio sits on a bench in the living room looking out towards the sky. The clouds are dark gray and the blue in the sky is starting to turn darker and darker. He anticipates the rain even though his mom forbid him from going outside while she wasn't home. He groans hearing light raindrops hit the trees outside. A roar of thunder signals the storm has arrived and the sky opens up. Rain starts pouring from above and Clio pushes the window up as much as he can.

He claps to himself looking at the storm darken the neighborhood he lives in. He remembers his moms voice about checking the slow cooker before she left. Clio sniffs the air, no burning, and looks back outside. Shouldn't Clarissa, his sitter, be checking that. He guesses he should be considerate and polite to the older girl doing her homework in the kitchen. He taps his book about a magical wardrobe with his toe. It is bookmarked at a part with an ice witch and delights at his feet. Inhaling the smell of rain he hopes dad comes home safe, it feels like forever since he last saw him. His hair is longer now so a lot of time has passed. Soon mom would be back picking dad up from the airport and they would eat supper. Things would be normal again. Clio laughs as the rain falls harder and blows through the mesh window, spitting in his face.

******

Ruby sits in the car un-tying a plastic kerchief around her already silk wrapped hair. The silk headscarf was a gift shipped all the way from Paris in a large courier box labeled fragile. Hired men unseated the crate and pryed it open. Smaller cardboard boxes were taped and stamped  **fragile** or  **England to USA** . Ruby set to unpacking each box once the men had left. Absent from the boxes were brand new Chanel trunks holding some of William and Christina's heavier clothes that signaled a change in season. It also meant that Christina had successfully transferred over a years worth of "stretched" serum into flasks and perfume bottles.

The other boxes held wrapped gifts most labeled with Ruby in Christina's script. A few items were labeled affectionately Son and Ruby placed them in their own pile. Christina had missed out on how tall their child grew in the past year but hopefully bought the sizes Ruby suggested or bigger. He was growing so quickly Ruby gave up on getting the boy a pair of nice pants. Everything became high waters. It had tapered off recently though and his mother hopes he won't start growing like that again any time soon. She still wanted her boy to be her baby for a few more years.

On top of one leather box wrapped in Louis Vuitton insignias, there was a card tucked on top under abstring. Ruby finished stacking the boxes in their sitting room and cleaned the mess the men made in her foyer. When she finally has a chance to sit down Ruby opened the card. The greeting makes her feel drunkenly loved.

To my boundless Ruby,

It's a very sweetly worded letter telling her these were just a few gifts for being such a good mother and wife. An apology for not physically being present for their anniversary. Written words and gifts were Christina's way of apologizing for missing out physically on their lives for the past 4 months. A promise that they would be home soon, to get Tic to carry the luggage, and giving permission for Ruby to re-gift some things to Leti. Ruby's fingers brush over the blood red signature at the end and her heart warms slightly. William.

Four more months later and the couple was in the final stretch of long distance. Ruby was in their bed wide awake at three AM listening to Christina ramble. It became their hour ritual before Ruby went to bed and William went off to teach year four students for the day. She listens to the woman who is both a husband and a wife ramble and drink tea. She was walking Ruby through Oxford's graduation traditions before Ruby spoke about her quiet venue accounting job. William's voice replaced Christina's with dysfluancies to keep the conversation alive. After Ruby finishes her story of a tricky illegal booking situation, she tells him how much Clio missed his father. William utters guarantees that his tickets were booked with British Overseas Airways Corporation for after the easter holiday.

A loud crack of lightning makes the earth shake and Ruby is suddenly very aware she is in a metal car, under a metal roof, and her wife is currently deplaning a metal aircraft. Her wife, that phrase has grown on her as the years have passed. For so long Christina was just her husband, just another face to William, but as 1967 came so did Clio's 10th birthday. A decade of the compassion she reserved for her wife in private was on public display for their family. Christina's arm wrapped around Ruby's waist and one hand keeping Clio from running back outside to play with his friends. Ruby comfortably leaning back into the woman's embrace while asking their child to stay still.

It was small, but big for both of them while they got a proper family photo just before her husband crossed the "pond". She sits in Christina's running current daily driver a silver 1967 Maserati Quattroporte with blood red leather interior. Easier to not stain during quick changes Ruby guessed. Her husband bought the thing on pre order a year prior and barely drove it before trekking off to the UK and Europe for the year. The tires were full of traction unlike the Bentley or her Jaguar. She's needed new snow tires badly after the blizzard of a lifetime.

Snow was piled above her head for hours until she could find a way to shovel her way out. One vial of William's serum from the basement and she shoveled her car out the driveway as well as the walkway. Playing with Clio, after a quick change to herself.... tired her out, but plenty of photos came from that hell of a blizzard. Winter was good but Christina was lucky as hell to miss that blizzard. Ruby revs the engine of the Quad slightly, making the car in front of her move quickly. She remembers William's smile staring at the new freshly shined Maserati in the driveway. His smile was wide and as bright as the cars sparkling exterior. 

She can imagine it is probably the same one Clio is sporting right now. Ruby could envision that smile so clearly because it had not left his face since spring came around. The snow melted and the sun started shining but the rain was relentless. Her son's current obsession with rain was fine with her as long as he didn't track mud on her wood floors. "He better be in the house" is all she knows and the little neighborhood girl, Clarissa, she hired to babysit him better make sure of it. It was a bit of a shock to her when Clarissa came by as she did every other house on the block asking if they needed a sitter. The girl was spunky even though Ruby was a bit suspicious of the girls intentions. Ruby made sure to draw invisible sigils into specific doors in the house. She did not want to find a jewel missing or a piece of clothing.

Ruby pulls into a parking spot outside of a set of double doors. The doors had a set of luggage attendees not paying any attention and was for well off patrons. She knows how this will look and prepares herself for the looks she's about to receive. Looks from security or at as the help or plain lost, but they couldn't kick her out of a public non segregated space. She is well off even without Braithwhite money. Sure could play that humiating role, but degrading her self worth was not on her list of things she is willing to do for Christina or William....again. 

She wanted it to be Christina greeting her as she drove to O'Hara, but knowing it will be far less trouble she is hoping for William. Muttering to herself that he is probably exhausted she pulls an emergency vial from the glove box and her piece of paper. The lined stationary has B.O.A.C scratched in her own blue handwriting. She exits the vehicle after checking her silver wrist watch for time. Ruby opens her coat and adjusts her shades in the side mirror. The blue heels on her feet match details on the scarf she exposes.

She whispers to herself he better not be lolly gagging in some airport bar while pocketing her plastic bonnet. Rolling her shoulders back she saunters into the airport and looks for signs B.O.A.C.

**********

Christina pushes her hair back and wedges a bookmark in between pages. They are waiting for the flight attendees to let first class off, but there is a delay. Something about making the gateway secure in the storm. Christina looks out the window and watches the rain shower the tarmac. The plane had some turbulence landing but the plane touched down just as God took a piss on the world. She rolls her eyes at her own thoughts.

Originally she was going to book her ticket as William but changed her mind. Parading in that form gave her confidence, he was a confident safety blanket she wrapped herself in, but he was weighted. Carrying his persona quieted her own even if they were one and he was just a mask. A mask she's worn for 12 years and it doesn't make her any less exhausted after. So, instead of wearing a mask on another 9-ish hour flight in discomfort she chooses her own name to book. Her legal name on paperwork is now Christina William Katherine Braithwhite. The addition allowed her to switch their first names easily on applications. Which works for the two licenses she carries in a luxe leather card holder. It was a gift from her in laws. Not that she needed either of them for flights since they rarely check i.d. As long as she had her first class ticket and her bony ass in the seat, most people did not bat an eye.

When she boarded her 2nd flight from NYC to CHI an attendant asked if her husband was just running late. Christina had to hold her laughter while telling the girl "he is picking me up from the airport."

Christina slips her well creased book into her carry on bag seeing one attendant scurry past her. The book is almost finished and has kept her busy when she cannot sleep. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" was a suggestion from one of her unofficial students. Her students, not those of her male persona that is quite the talk on campus. The hot "yank", a nickname that made her laugh the entire academic year. She is frankly quite surprised that no matter her exterior shell women and men trip over themselves. She always tells Ruby, over the phone, that it is just her confidence they are reacting to. Her wife lets her deflect but does not leave the conversation without commenting on her handsome-ness. She usually clicks her tongue at the compliment even though her cheeks do blush.

Her students were groups of anarchist, young hippies, and "Dorothy's friends". They flocked to her at the dive bars and lounges she frequents. Generally they are looking for her perspectives on American issues. The presidency, the war, and drugs but they also educate her sometimes. She listens to the way they describe the world and absorbs it to have a better understanding of the one her child....her children will have. It was a nice exchange of knowledge. They influenced her with culture and style as she gave them academic debates. The new layers in her hair were another change, one she hopes her wife likes. The lessons were a reasonable exchange of power and education.

One night after a round of drinks and her own rolled joint Christina was more willing to talk about her personal life. She tried to keep as much of her story and background to herself. She would never be inebriated enough to expose magic to a bunch of "free" thinkers. They would just argue with her about why she wasn't doing more for their cause with her "powers". Their "cause" tended to lean into ideas she still grits her jaw at. Drugs was not one of them because even if it ruined their bodies, she had the wonders of immunity. 

Thanks to her wife's skill she has had her fair amount of trips in the years.

Drugs lead her students to getting rare confessions out of her. Some that they had been betting on since meeting her. Her queerness was picked up on early by them but she never confirmed or denied.

"See Dolly I told you she was one of us." A more masculine girl yelled to a soft girl with vivrant energy.

Christina held her neck rigidly, being looped into a group was not her thing. Being corralled into stereotypes just because of how she dresses, carries herself, and who she beds. 

"I'm not....not....not like that," Christina stumbled over her words. Rare she thinks.

"You just said you 'like' women. What makes you so different from the rest of us dykes?" The same girl asks and Christina can sense the tension in her voice. She was two double doubles in and in no mood for an argument. That also was not what she meant, even though she did consider herself better than most humans.

Christina laughs into her glass, "I did not mean that as an insult. You know the sewing circle."

"All those hot hollywood gals who pretend to like men." Dolly giggled out.

Christina chuckled, "I'm more like them than I am like you. I have expectations and limits in this world too, money doesn't buy me the same freedom that my..." Christina sips her drink because there is more than one truth to her next words.

"My skin can. In the states I am not in the position to just be so open about who I do." Christina said with a fake grin.

Gail comes in from the kitchen scoffing, "But you have San Francisco in the states, the promised land."

"Gail she's from Chicago, that's nowhere near California." Danny filled the bubbly brunette in.

Christina shrugged, "I've actually never been, so I can't speak on if it is the "promised land"."

Nowhere is perfect and Christina is highly doubtful anywhere in 1967 is. Some shitty city where dirty revolutionist gather is far from the place where dreams do come true. A 6 hour drive or less depending of traffic, one of her colleagues at USC mentioned its proximity to Disney. Even if it seemed everything, on the surface level, she could hope for, could it be enough for her wife.

Probably not. Probably, but that was an assumption which Christina has always tried not to begrudge her wife with. Ruby did not like people making decisions for her, but she did let Christina go above her head from time to time. They could visit California she thinks to herself, it would be a first for her. A planned trip was less risky than a sudden move. But, where would their mixed racial family fit in? Some fancy resort in Orange County that hated negro people and served shitty breakfast. Fuck that, Christina would never dream of skimping out for her band of three. Disney Hotel it would just have to be then. Clio would surely want to go to Disney, but could they avoid shitty comments and vile glares. Would her son notice them, even if there were barely any?

She tries to shield him often from those eyes even if they look like his own. But, she knows a father's protection can only extend so far. One day he will be a man, a black man and she won't be able to force the world to see him as her son. She struggles silently knowing that even if she shows up to Epcot with her widest man smile people would still give her and her beautiful son and her gorgeous wife dirty looks. Looks as if they are an abomination to step foot into a store they could buy the entirety of, if they wanted. 

She is no Lochness monster or Frankenstein (eh) and she does not appreciate being looked at like that. It's one of the rare times she can understand Yes she is used to similar stares in the Southside but rarely are they filled with hate. Anger and distrust, that is normal but the hate she feels piercing her skin is enough to send her into a fury.

The stares differ when she is wearing William's face. Ruby next to him is met with odd spectacle and the son they bore is "exotic" or disgraced. Men joust her and she laughs along, if the jeers are positive, with a very tight grip on a shoulder. The jokes usually turn crude and William has to remind men that he does not appreciate that language about his wife. A bruised lip or ego settles words like that. 

White women roll their eyes at William and bitch about how he should have married a white woman. They say it behind his back as he carries Ruby's coat or bag as she shops around department stores. He cuts stares at them to let it be known he has heard every word. The looks turn the other way quickly.

When they are just themselves together in public. Ruby is regarded as a close friend that people ignore or worse see her as the "help". Christina hates that they are so dismissive of someone with more talent in her left pinky toe than they could dream of. "Hate is a strong word" Ruby usually chides her with, but Christina W.K Braithwhite knows her own heart. She hates them and as her real self they hate her too. A bubbling molten hate that is angry from every direction. when white eyes stare at her with Clio. They pick up his shade of skin, the looseness of his hair, and the way he clings to her for comfort. They see all of that and label him mutt. White men comment on how she ruined herself, white women avert their eyes, and white children eager to play with another child are steered away by their parents. It enfuriates her how all of that goes away the moment Ruby appears with whatever she left in the car or with bags plenty. 

Those evil eyes look to offer insincere apologies. They write Clio off as a mishap for this black woman and Christina is just a good friend to not judge. Judge in the same way they do her family and son. Sometimes she wishes he did not look so much like her. Other times she finds herself hoping he still keeps her blue eyes and his cheeks stay dimpled. His expressions are all his mother, his small brow raised when she says something he doesn't like.

Danny muffed in between a joint, "Aren't you like stinking rich, just go."

Christina grins at their optimism, she never had that at their age. She had the same passion they have for politics and anti establishment for immortality. That desire a memory of the past. It would happen but maybe in another lifetime or at least before she turns 40. She's been working on a way to extend her immortality to her wife. If they couldn't achieve fucking over death she has a fail safe for aging and sickness burned into her ribcage. The same horned scar is carved into her wife's hip. That was the result of an arduous argument that she won. She never had optimism, not even now, she can be quite the cynic.

"I have commitments unlike the rest of you." Christina said before inhaling from her cigarette.

"Fuck your job man, real estate is just another way of colonizing land."

"You aren't wrong but its not my job...its just better than my options. I have....,"Christina chooses her words carefully, "a family." Real estate was a great cover.

Someone grumbled, "No way you have a beard you seem too confident for a man to....."

She has a cover but not at all in the way they were contriving. "Did I say I was married? I said I have a family,just not one I can parade around anywhere I please."

"Oh my are you....?" Dolly squeaked out. 

"I am married to a woman.....sort of and she…..no we have a son. You see I can't just run off to California to sight see because I'm feeling bored." Christina said.

"Wait you are gay married. How?" Danny is the first to bombard her with questions. 

Christina lies quickly, "There was a ceremony, I never said it was legal." It was legal because they married in a church as William and Ruby. With a later indoor reception under a blood moon and a decadent red velvet cake, but that would reveal too much. 

Christina knows they will ask so she fishes her wallet from her coat hanging over her chair. It takes her a moment, but she produces a non creased photo deep inside. It's from Clio's birthday of her and her family looking as dashing as they could at a ten year olds' party. Gail gingerly took the photo from her fingers and the others scoot to get a look for themselves. 

Christina sat in the chair exhaling and pulling again from the cigarette. Her sock covered toe bouncing above a green coffee table. They are in one of these beat knick turned hippies apartment paid for with "daddy's money". She can't judge Emil, because she also has an estate she lives off of. The difference is she is now the sole owner of her family wealth and whatever money that comes in is of her own making. Her own salary adds to wages of dirty money. The clean will never outweigh the bad, but she tries.

Christina grins as she pulls out another photo. Her thumb brushed across the image of her wife and handed it off to one of the other girls. A tall one almost her height who can't get a look at the family photo grabs it first. The girl damn near pops her eyes out of her head looking at it. Christina heard a quiet fuck and snickers to herself cigarette in hand.

Letitia started taking photos of Ruby while she sang at bars and clubs for fun. Christina managed to persuade her sister in law to gift her a few for....science. Leti's face was disgusted handing over the envelope on their last interaction before Christina had a flight to catch. Leti loudly told the room of adults she was disgusted that she just gave her brother-in-law dirty material. William laughed but didn't deny her assumption while putting the envelope in his jacket pocket. 

"Va va voom is this her? How could you get bored."

"Never bored of her," Christina nods sipping her fruity strong cocktail. 

"She is fit. I see why you don't even look at any of us." Cecilia laughed out awkwardly. Someone nudges her to be quiet, Christina just grins from the admiration. She likes that people also see what she sees if they keep their words polite and their hands off. Ruby was free to do as she pleases but if anyone were to cross the woman's boundaries it would get messy.

Christina keeps smoking thinking about the woman she has at home. Is it too early to hear her voice in her ears. Her body completely relaxes the guard she has up and she glances towards a clock, half past 12. She could call her at work? It would be inappropriate, but she could. 

Damn Marijuana cigarette.

"Your wife is black," Danny said it like a question but she knows it is a statement. She wondered how many black gay people he or Cecilia have encountered besides themselves. There must be more than the few that hang around the bar she meets these kids at most Friday nights. Christina shrugged slightly, feeling her body get heavier but she does search everyone in the rooms' faces. Searched for an ounce of disdain at her interracial relationship so she can bewitch it off their face. She doesn't find one and relaxes. There is hope for these kids yet, there is plenty of word in her (well William's) inner circles of homosexuality being legalized in England soon. Chicago was ahead of their curve by 5 years legally but it only meant no one could arrest men for being gay not that they wouldn't beat them.

"Hey Emil, Can I use your phone? It's international ?" Christina figures it will be fine since he probably calls his parents in France to ensure they don't cut him off every other day. She sees him nod and walks into the kitchen next to the living space. A whistle from one young student makes her add a pep to her step. Dialing in a number from memory she waits for the line to pick up.

"Hello this is Mildred for Thalia Hall Entertainment Services, How can I help you?" the secretary questioned.

Christina clears her throat into the receiver feeling a cough coming. "Hi um sorry," she bit her lip, "Can I speak to Ruby Baptiste, uh I'd like to discuss my clients payment?"

"Of course, I will now direct you to Mrs. Baptiste-Braithwhite one minute," the secretary said.

"Wait. Baptiste-Braithwhite ?" Christina crinkled her brow because when they hell did her wife do that. Ms. I'm never using your last name at work because it will cost me clients Baptiste.

The secretary chuckled," Oh yea Ruby is married apparently has been for a while, to some stud of a man..."

The secretary pauses, "Oops I'm so sorry, you didn't hear me say that. I'll connect you now. Please don't tell her I told you that," The secretary twanged through the phone and Christina laughs to herself.

"It's fine I won't, my lips are sealed," Christina says quickly before there is a long pause and then the line is picked up again.

Ruby's business voice is clear, "Hello this is Mrs. Baptiste, Can you tell me the name of your client and how I may help you ?"

Christina leans against the kitchen counter, "I thought it was Baptiste-Braithwhite and you can help me anytime with anything."

Ruby sighs and Christina hears her buzz to her secretary. Her wife is saying something about holding any calls and walk-ins until she is finished on the phone. Christina twirls the cord slightly before letting it bungy and recoil back into a line.

"What are you calling me for at work, Mr. Braithwhite. Must be well past your bedtime or are you still up inciting anti-government rhetoric after hours." Ruby's voice is less formal and Christina feels her neck warm.

"I'm a good professor," a hiccup interrupts her, "What can I say and I....I....I just really miss you Ruby." Christina hums into the receiver and gazes at the wall envisioning her wife.

Ruby raised her brow and leaned back into her chair. Whispering into the ear piece she questions, "Have you been drin..... wait are you high Christina?"

Christina giggles, it slips and tries to cover it with, "no no no."

"You sound high," Ruby says fake shocked. 

"Okay maybe just a little," Christina admits, "But I just got outted by a bunch of queer twenty-somethings and I showed them the pictures in my wallet. I showed them this beautiful family that I can't wait to get home to and just.....shit!" Christina jumped breaking her rambling words as a cat scurries across the floor. Sneaky bastard.

"You miss us ?" Ruby asks, staring at the picture of William in his finest suit next to the old Bentley, that sits on her desk.

Christina misses her son she really does but, sometimes she only misses her wife. She does not feel guilty about only missing the way her body rests up against her in the middle of the night. The way her heart beat feels under her finger tips. It is usually not her thinking about sex, just that she misses her wife's presence. Christina is like a car without a spare tire most days, if anything goes wrong she usually has Ruby in her corner to turn to if she can't do it herself. It was something she had to get used to, having real support, after learning to trust people and Ruby again. Being without trust after learning how to love it felt like being a newborn shoggoth learning to walk. The weed and the alcohol opened her lid up to release some pressure but it would get closed right back up soon. That picture of a tight number on Ruby singing her sorrows away is still making its way around in the other room. Someone is smacked and she hears them being chastised by Emil to respect her wife, her Ruby.

Her words come out breathy, "Baby, I just miss you."

Ruby is silent on the other end for far too long and Christina is about to shove herself back into a hollow hole named regret. 

Ruby hums quietly, "I can hear your brain working from miles away, stop assuming the worst. I love you too, your voice is just distracting."

Christina bites the inside of her tongue for feeling like a wound up school girl. When she turned into such a sap she doesn't know. Choosing to keep quiet she listens to Ruby fill in her silence with trivial commentary. Office chatter that she usually hears about as she readies for work. Christina is just happy to hear the woman so content and awake. The story was so intriguing she almost forgot to ask her question.

_ "Baby, can we go to Disneyland?"  _

A flight attendant comes up to Christina and she blinks away her memories. She lets her know that first class is now able to deplane. Christina fakes a smile and gathers her coat under her arm. Passengers much more dressed up than she is, rush off the plane. They gave her dirty stares the entire plane ride, looking down their noses at her. She was just as comfortable in her body wearing a refined outfit as she was in this hemmed baggy linen shirt and pin-striped jeans. Her students abroad traded her for some designer duds. Christina taps her Gucci loafers on the floor. She is waiting for the uptight silver fox to her right to get out of the aisle. He glared at her the entire trip like she was the reason for turbulence. If he moved any slower she would never get to see her wife again.

**********

"So you're a hippy now," Ruby pushes her shades down and stares at the woman up and down. From the hair to the pants someone came back from England right out of a Vietnam war protest. 

"You already know how I feel about war," Christina cuts her eyes up and down Ruby. 

"I do.....you are adverse to peace. Um where are your bags?" Ruby looks at the woman's free hands minus a large polo purse hanging off of her shoulder.

"He's got them," Christina nods to a short teenager pushing an empty luggage cart.

Ruby shakes her head at a young boy who can't be more than 15 swimming in his uniform. She notes that he looks like the only white baggage clerk here. Ruby mindlessly helps loading the cart with expensive luggage as it comes off a conveyer belt. She glances at Christina who is stuck in her own world eyes glued to Ruby. The woman barely lifted a finger and Ruby knows what it looks like to the teen and other airport goers. She also notices the sunken bags that amplify blue eyes and the sleepy posture of the blonde. This once she will give her a break because William rarely asks her to carry anything heavier than a gift.

"Wow you couldn't even wait for me to get here to hire help." Ruby moves in front of her wife and whispers, "What a fake hippy and what are you staring at Braithwhite." That is rhetorical, she is just glad she still has an effect on her. Also very glad for the very large trendy aviators Christina is wearing that hide that gaze. 

Christina exhales through her nose coming back from her thoughts. "Hmm," she responds with her cheeks flushed. 

Ruby rolls her eyes but is quite glad she left her coat wide open. Her turtleneck might cover and leave everything to an imagination but it also hugged her body to give clues. Christina and the male counter attendant Ruby spoke to earlier used their imaginations well. Ruby smiles and introduces herself to the boy who is a bit wide eyed looking at the packed foreign bags. She gives him the car model, color, and location in case he falls behind or they do. He seems grateful and addresses her as Mam in his Thank-you.

"So there is a storm outside, Clio is with a sitter, and I have the night off." Ruby starts walking and feels dead blue eyes glued to her ass. She clears her throat to warn her wife she is being as obvious as a bear in a China shop. A China shop full of disapproving traditional people. An interracial couple was just becoming less of a taboo, but people still disapproval. A lesbian interracial couple and someone would surely call the police or start a fire.

They couldn't be arrested lbut people and police were idiots. Someone would see Christina's pants or her shoes and fine her for cross dressing. Maybe even wrongfully fined for public indecency. It just wasn't worth the trouble, but God does Ruby tire of tip toeing around in broad daylight. No one cares if William gives her bedroom eyes in public even if it makes them horribly uncomfortable.

"Dinner?" Christina hums and falls into stride beside Ruby while adjusting her shirt. It's barely shorter than her waist and rides up with her movements. She ignores the young boy following them pushing the cart with her suitcases. She will tip him well, he is just irrelevant just like everyone else that got in her way back home. She still hasn't settled in to the mindset that she is not going to wake up to fresh bread or curious minds tomorrow. The rain here is just as heavy as London though. 

"Yes but it's not exactly sunny out and I can't be seen with you looking like that in a restaurant." Ruby shoots sarcasm but keeps her pace next to Christina steady.

She watches from her peripheral as Christina shrugs on a dark tan coat with a fur neckline. The edge of her shirt riding up as she moves to expose a little midriff. Bare skin that extends further as the woman yawns behind a hand. Ruby pulls her eyes back to the busy airport in front of them and maintains her composure. God help me, she whispers to herself.

"Why God? Too radicalized for you choice," Christina forces a fake young accent.

Ruby rolls her eyes, "You aren't radical enough yet in my opinion, but no. This suits you but.... it brings attention to you." Ruby speeds up her gait slightly.

Christina trails behind forcing Ruby to slow down a bit. Christina raises a knowing brow and lets her hand fall to her side. The back of her hand grazes her wife's. Ruby doesn't jump but she does fake a sorry that Christina returns. An apology not for a graze of their knuckles but for the life they must lead. Optics always optics Christina thinks. She is bored of optics, always has been.

"Sorry did I even greet you with a hello?" Christina says as they walk past incoming passengers.

Ruby chuckles, "Christina you didn't even introduce yourself when we first met."

"You never gave me a chance but we sure did get off on the right staircase." Christina jokes.

Rolling her eyes again and sighing heavily Ruby breaths out, "God if times were different..."

Christina grins.

"I'd elbow a white woman in public," Ruby shakes her head as they wait behind the teen as he pushes Christina's luggage through the double doors. A laugh racks out from Christina through her nose and lungs, Ruby feels her heart sing a little. An action quite rare for her husband who doubles as a wife. Laughter no matter how big or small was a joy, because while Christina was constantly amused laughter was not as consistent as a smirk. A father who prioritized business and quiet over his child's joy caused this. Just like so many other things Christina has worked on with and without Ruby to decrypt. 10 years and Ruby uby quite enjoys the rare sound of a laugh.

Maybe Christina needed to get away more often.

***********

"God this is so good," Christina licks her fork clean.

Ruby shakes her head, "It is just a deep dish....it isn't even that great."

"I missed local food with flavor, actually we have to see if there are any Caribbean or Indian families in the area. Ruby," Christina nods slowly as she drives in a point, "you have to try their food."

"We aren't head hunting poor immigrants." Ruby gets a serious look before biting into her regular crust.

"Not for their bodies, I just want their spices." Christina shrugs and goes back to eating her deep dish with a fork. The back seat of her new car is quite comfortable and it is her first time sitting in the back. A good investment as always. Ruby laughs and bites into her other slice.

"Maybe some other day, we do have a son to get back to." Ruby smiles.

Christina looks into her food before sullenly saying, "He is probably so big now. He probably looks so different." Her voice gets smaller, "I have missed so much."

"Do not feel guilty for being a good father and keeping food on his plate," Ruby tries to reassure her partner. "His hair is longer, he's taller too, but he still looks like your son. His eyes still look like yours," Ruby reaches out and brushes a thumb over her wife's chin. She watches Christina turn from her food to stare at her. 

Christina freezes her expressions and asks, "Is he being bullied?" Ruby shakes her head no and hides the lie with another bite of food. Clio has been bullied on both sides of Chicago since he could talk but he hides it well. She's tried her best at giving him a strong back bone from a young age even though there are nights he can't be as strong as her or his father. His little tears and cries of wishing he was different billowing into her arms. Even though she knows he doesn't mean it, him wanting to rid himself of her or his dad hurts. It will wreck her husband even more than it did her. Clio is living in an existence that neither her or his father would ever fully understand. She doubts Clio will even tell Christina about his woes with school bullies because unfortunately they look just like her. 

She lies to the content face that digs baxk into a saucy deep dish because this is only 15 percent. The care-free Doctor Braithwhite who lets wind flow through their hair is only 15 percent of her partner. 85 percent is a mess of parental damage, an always teetering gender crisis, a lack of childhood, ego and so much more. 85 percent is shoulders deep in blood stained tubs drowning their next victim. 85 percent is giving students a D in class participation because they "ask too many questions". That 85 percent is always one hair pin from breaking the balls of every man who crosses her path. Christina would put on the facade of comforting father if Clio spills the beans and then end up cutting some families brake lines. Or worse calling on a certain spell to have their home fall into a sink hole.

An "accident". Ruby was tired of making excuses for her husband's accidents, even when some of them made her own lips curl into a smile. It's a smile her sister finds just as creepy on Christina as she does her. A smile their son sports when watching his G.I Joe dolls melt under the radiator. Maybe it's the pure thrill of destructive natures that glimmers in their eyes. The glue that binds his parents toRuby blames her adoption of such pleasures on Christina but that doesn't mean she has to encourage them. 

*********

They finish eating and Ruby plays with the fur edge of Christina's discarded coat. She searches her wife's pocket for candy or a mint and instead finds a pocket knife and cigarette case emblazoned Pan-Am. Christina says something about protection and a new gift, but only one of those is believable. She could see the scratches on the silver edges of the case and its powder blue leather. When she opens it, the case has cigarettes missing and a joint. Ruby cuts her husband off and her mom voice comes out.

"Not in the house." 

Christina gives her wife a straight face taking the case back and slips it into her pocket. She half nods and continues what she was saying.

Ruby listens to the woman read from her journal entries about the first days in England. Christina turns to make sure she is still listening, but looks at her lips firsr and then at her eyes. Ruby feels goosebumps run over her fully covered skin, it's been a year since that look. She shivers and leans cautiously forward which Christina encourages with a lick of her own lips. A thumb rests on Christina's cheek and begins to brush away crumbs.

Ruby sighs low, "I want to kiss my husband." She leans backwards but keeps her thumb resting on the edge of her husband's lips. It creeps closer to a slick bottom lip until it ghosts over a slightly open mouth and she feels her heart quicken. Christina's tongue is right there within grasp. She couldn't remember how those lips tasted. Other parts of Christina that the woman hides are permanently embedded into Ruby's D.N.A. Parts that she only sees in rare moments of vulnerability.

"Then do it, they can't come into this car, and if they do....," Christina husks out her eyes lowering. She grins because they both could cause so much trouble. Ruby is a very perceptive pupil when she isn't being distracting. It has been a long time since they got into some trouble together. Even before this position in England, Christina has to be devil's advocate by herself. Becoming parents made them both softer and less gun half cocked, now they think about how their choices could affect their son. Then they communicate about what actions are worth the risk.

Ruby bites her bottom lip watching the other woman tease her thumb with kisses. The back of her mind is weighing what people could say if they were caught. The windows are slightly fogged from the car heater and covered in droplets as rain still pours on outside. Long distance passerbys would only see shadowy figures making out in a back seat. They wouldn't even know who, the devil on her shoulder sings sweetly.

Slowly she pulls away and watches Christina sit both of empty plates on to the center console. Long fingers adorned with just two rings, pull down rouched sleeves. A solid gold ring that fits on Christina's right thumb is the same one that fits William's left finger. On the left ring finger there is a smaller band with a cluster of diamonds. Ruby bought it for Christina after some man hit on the woman in front of her. Ruby was unable to step in physically and tell the man the woman was taken. He just couldn't take every hint Christina threw him that she was taken, so Ruby sat there and watched her wife turn up the banter. 20 minutes of being ignored by the man ad he talked her wife up. Ruby just kept taking his free drinks and devising a way for this to never happen again. She gave Christina the ring a week later, after marking her territory in between long legs. 

"Warning if you kiss me," Christina feels her own gaze getting heated, "I might never stop kissing you." She rakes her eyes over Ruby like a kid at a candy store.

Ruby unwedges her heels from her feet and sits further back into the seat. She wraps a finger in blonde hair and whispers out, "I'm cutting you off in 20 minutes, we still need to make sure he hasn't convinced that girl to let him paint our walls orange."

"I like orange," Christina jokes and sits even closer to Ruby. Ruby pulls Christina lightly by the chin until their lips connect. Christina stiffles a sigh into the kiss. It's not long until they are having a full on puppy love, sweethearts makeout session in the back seat. Ruby has missed being immature and spontaneous with this person. Christina feels at home in this backseat and she hasn't even felt the inviting touch of the manor yet.

Christina breaths in between kisses that grow languid, "Clio is going to end up with a little sister if you are like this tonight."

"There will be no tonight," Ruby wraps her arms around the blonde's neck hearing her whine. She is on mom duty today, tomorrow she will be a wife, and on the weekend she has plans to rid her partners memory of any British tail. She pecks the frown lines on Christina's face.

Cbristina lifts her palm up the inside of Ruby's dress skirt. "I can get condoms if you don't want me to..."

Ruby nudges her wife's nose and smiles, "I appreciate that, but you need rest, i know you are tired and don't pretend you aren't. You are a mean bitch without sleep, but tomorrow night you can try for twins....maybe."

Ruby crosses her thighs forcing the other woman to evacuate her hand. Christina rubs her lips together and looks at Ruby with a look that says 'oh really'. She ignores the small offense she feels being called a bitch, even if it is the truth. Ruby just rolls her eyes and catches the woman off guard by pulling her into an unhurried kiss. A slow tongue, a hand tangled in platinum hair and another keeping Christina's hands off of her breast. Ruby pulls back from a shaky witch whose jaw is still slack open. She takes the opportunity to meet the open mouth with her tongue and then lays back down. 

Christina settles her heavy breathing and groans resting her head on her wife's cleavage. She's rubbing up the outside of Ruby's stocking covered thigh. Her brain is fighting the heartbeat in between her legs. "Fuck, I missed your mouth," Christina sighs.

"Oh I'm sure you did," Ruby teases tracing her fingers across her lovers forearm. Ruby hears a happy sigh from her personal human weighted blanket and closes her eyes. They would just lie here for a while until they had to go back to the Eden they created.

*************

Christina adjusts a loose button up around Williams body. Christina didn't have to lie, fully, when shopping with two of her students. She asked if it would be okay if they gave her an oversized masculine look.....from the men's department. Her students ran and pulled items happily.

This shirt fits William's body perfectly but also drapes her body nicely. Ruby watches him adjust the fly of his pants and smiles as she rounds the street to their home. He catches her grin and smiles to himself as he checks his appearance. Transforming into a man's body in the back seat of a car in an empty alley was a first. Doing all that while your sexually starved wife drolls over you leads to even better first. No work needed from him and no hands for her. He leaves the shirt untucked just like she did and combs his hair back in the side mirror.

Ruby parks the car in the driveway and feels the weight in the trunk settle. She hands Christina his keys and reaches for her purse. Christina stops Ruby's hand before the barrel of red Clairol can be twisted open. Ruby turns to feels thinner lips kissing her cheek and stubble brushing her face. Until she can feel his lips against hers.

The kiss starts warming up too much and Ruby pulls back. William's nose bumps hers as he presses one final peck to her lips.

"Salty," William hums as he ties his plain kerchief around his neck. 

Ruby spreads red on her lips and lets her lips pop as she smacks them together. "I wonder why white boy," she says sarcastically dropping the used wet wipes inside of her bag.

"You think he missed me,"Christina questions his hand on the car door handle. 

Ruby laughs throwing her door open. "I will be lucky if I ever get my husband back now."

William waits for Ruby and they make their way to the front door quickly. His arms trying to shield her from the falling rain. Ruby grabs the handle but it is ripped backwards. 

"Dad!" Clio squeals throwing open the door. 

William's arms almost don't open fast enough before the boy lunges into his arms. Christina hugs her son's longer frame tightly and supports his weight easily. Where her and William used to be separate for her,they have begun to meld for this boy. He sees her as his father through and through even though he has grown so big. For what he gains in height he lacks in heft. She hears his excitement and laughs looking out to the sky. It is still raining dense but light rain. Ruby is gonna hate this Christina thinks for a second. She decides not to look behind to her wife before running into the rain. With her son on her hip she spins and whips around in the down pour. Christina listens to the laughter from the son who still shares her eyes. Her smile makes her cheeks hurt.

It was good to be home.

*********

Ruby watches the woman next to her fast asleep. The subtle rise and fall of her shoulders to signal her breathing. Her wife came home tired, even though there were visible dark circles under her eyes. Father and son caught up on some of the past year of missing quality time until it was well past Clio's bedtime. He fell asleep curled up in Christina's arms, he is still just small enough to do so and Ruby almost cries at the sight.

Father and son share the same statuesque appearance in sleep. The stern jaw slack with composure as Chris dreams. Ruby saw that face every night for months. It's less hard with reality and sweeter from Clio. He dreams of "being a werewolf and tells her about all his adventures during breakfast. Ruby woke Christina lightly and held Clio as the taller woman pulled herself from his bed. Ruby waited a while tidying up Clio's room before padding to her den of heaven. There were changes, it was brighter now with cream sheets and dark red pillow cases. 

Ruby closes their door and makes her way to the bathroom. She glances at Christina turning down their bed. Christina is giving the many decorative pillows looks of disgust and testing their density. After what she attempted to be a quick shower, Ruby leaves the bathroom in a sleeping gown. Her husband is clinging to sleep but forcing herself awake when Ruby enters the room. Christina covers her yawns all through listening to her wife speak. Ruby holds her wife close when she sees the blonde fading. Her arms are filled with weight until there is a light snoring. 

Christina was so dead to the world that Ruby was able to tuck her in their bed without her waking up. Ruby's bedroom lamp still on she starts to read a new book she's found interest in. Her free hand rests on her wife's back in between flips. She gets a chapter and a half finished before her eyes begin to feel heavy. Her mind starts to shake itself awake with reminders.

"Wake up Baptiste wake up, The clock it is too early, shit i will miss Christina's...."

Ruby looks to her left and exhales as her fingers stroke a white cotton tshirt. She places the hardcover book in her hands in the drawer of her nightstand. Bypassing old steamy letters signed B-Braithwhite, a sharp knife, and her "anniversary" gift. All of these comfort items made her feel safe and they made all those lonely nights easier. She cuts the side lamp off and slips herself further under the covers. Warm hands awaken to wrap around her and pull their owner closer. Christina mumbles sleep babble into her breast and Ruby lets her body mold to a touch she has ached for.

Whatever Christina is saying makes very rarely any sense but it's something Ruby's missed. She has missed this person who she fell for even under strange circumstance. Ruby was grateful her lover hadn't dropped out of the sky or been assaulted or got herself into legal trouble while abroad. That she knew of, there was still so much that hour long conversations could not hold. She is eager to soak up the bits of knowledge and magic Christina has learned but also flip through folders full of developed photos. Loving her mystery of a partner had not suddenly become any easier in the last 10 years. They still bickered and disagreed (less often now), but there was strong bond built on mutual desire. 

A desire for their goals, dreams, and family to succeed. Ruby doesn't have to wonder if she is desired by those cold blue eyes. Desire is never something she has to question in public or her bedroom. She does wonder if her husband realizes it is utterly requited. Ruby knows she has a hard time returning i love yous but she tries to show him that she does. Show him....her that she desires her for more than the money dirty legacy provides, the safety net of white arms, or the rod that fills her several times a week when he is home.

She desires her wife. Her husband. This woman. This man. This witch.

Ruby Baptiste - Braithwhite desires everything that lays in this bed beside her. All the other titles and identities in between that Christina, informally, Baptiste - Braithwhite holds. The sad fights, the ugly ones too, and oh the good. Kisses that leave her heart racing, hands that still rub the kinks out of her shoulders, and the giggling good that wakes her up in the morning by jumping into their bed yelling out "momma! can we have flat cakes like daddy likes."

Even angry and her brown eyes filled with disgust at her husband's disregard for their own life, desired. 

Even a snoring cranky 6 ft warlock witch with drunk hands under her shirt at 2 AM is desired.

Her desired life was far better than sleeping in an asymmetrically cold bed. Ruby took to filling her bed with pillows because she missed having a warm place to rest her face. Pillows still couldn't bat their eyelashes against hers or brush rough stubble on her cheek. They were much softer and fuller than the mattress though.

Smells from the soap Christina uses isn't distant or fading. It's mixed in with the smell of fresh sheets and is right under Ruby's nose. Her thumb scratches up along a whispy pale nape, the digit brushing stray blonde baby hairs. Waking up will be so different tomorrow and her husband's jet lag will mean Clio gets to sleep in. He is going to love that, the TV all to himself until they catch him messing with the volume of the television.

Ruby's kisses into messy blonde hair evoke more sleep talk. This time she can understand them, the years made her proficient in sleepy Adam-lish. Clio speaks it too, but only with family or at home.

"Are you sure Disney is the happiest place on earth," Ruby says rhetorically. She yawns and closes her eyes. There had been talks of a short trip to California in the fall. A random non sober phone call from Christina made her reach out to a few black travel agents. Nothing was concrete, but Ruby is excited her to be able to surprise Clio. It was something she would never have growing up, so she was willing to let go of her pride for his happiness. She would just make sure he is grateful and aware of his privilege. 

A trip would be nice for the two of them too even though Ruby was not a fan of Walt Disney. It was a place she could get on teacups with her husband and hold his hand as fireworks shot out behind the castle. Then sneak off while Clio was asleep to a beach to woo her already smitten wife. It would be magical without their magic. She is just awake enough to hear Christina mumble and snuggles into her wife.

"B'laa aeloa attā aiyt sheli," Christina whispers again against her wife's skin. Over and over the words hush until jet lag drags her back to a deep sleep.

"No, but you're mine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They got married under a blood moon in my head by the way lmao. Should I write a wedding chapter? 
> 
> Do yall wanna see their "first time" together since Chris returned home? Who wants to go to Disneyland? Basically what do you wanna see directly after this?
> 
> (We are already going to Disney, who is up for 1967 Disney? But I am game for also writing pre-disney too.)


	4. blood moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going to the chapel  
> And we're gonna get married  
> Gee I really love you  
> And we're gonna get married  
> Going to the chapel of....blood?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is like Valentine's Day candy the day after valentine's you get it a day late its on sale but it's still the same candy. Happy late Valentines Day and here is a wedding fic. Wedding placed a few months before the first chapter. (This was supposed to be posted on the 15th but I changed and added some things.) 💓

_1963_

Ruby looks at the large moon hung in the sky and prays her future is as bright as the lantern in the sky. A future as Mrs. William Braithwhite. 

It was official now she was someone's misses for life or until divorce. A white man's misses who had been floating in a dazed limbo for days preceding their marriage. William told her it was called dissociation after he caught her staring out the window long after the car stopped moving. Subconsciously she was trying to pull away from their very expensive looming reservation to come. He asked her if she wanted to call off things and she found a way to say no. Ruby asked him if it was normal but he refused to define normality for her. William felt no need to force Ruby to change her emotions certainly not for him in any form. He let her sit in the car while he ran into the bakery for their tester cakes.

She'd understood that he was unsure if they were doing the right thing for themselves. Their reason for getting legally married ran from their room to his own back and forth with toys. A new story for each doll, crayon, and truck. Ruby did want to get married once in this lifetime she just never considered the likes of Christina Braithwhite as an option. An option that opened doors for her and carried an extra rain bonnet in the car for her. The very pretty very expensive large diamond sitting on her finger is weightless. The questions on her not so much.

_Is she settling on behalf of her child instead of finding her true soul mate?_

_Did she believe in true love?_

_Was her soulmate a six foot white woman with magic in her fingers?_

_Did she love this woman enough to stay married under a lie? A mask?_

_Was love enough to keep a family together?_

_Does she even trust a white woman to love her fully?_

At least on paper and in person she is marrying a man not a woman. His name is William Braithwhite and he will give her the time to decide if the power of deception could work.

Christina intended to never get married, ever.

Christina also saw Ruby's discomfort when someone would comment on Clio being born out of wedlock. They would joke about Ruby's unconventional living situation. Others would say harsher comments that were the ones Ruby refused to repeat. 

_"Oh where is your ring honey isn't it 'bout time for that",_ Willa at the market would ask Ruby.

Patty Sinclair, Christina's hair dresser, would whisper banter to the other gals after Ruby leaves the uptown salon with their son. _"How will she find a husband now."_

Christina pretended not to hear Ruby's phone calls from friends, _"He's away on business again?"_

Lies met Ruby's ears about William having a secret family in another state amongst others. Ruby would return to home from a salon appointment with Clio at her ankles frustrated. Frustrated she could not change people's minds and that she did not have anything better to say then, _"He is busy."_ Or the age old, _"he is just waiting for the right time."_ Her son's father was right there at every doctor's appointment and grocery trip for four almost five years. She just wanted to yell out he is right here and point to the blonde goddess. He deceived them with his face not his lack of presence.

Christina felt shame being the cause of shop gossip Ruby had to deflect. Another family was far too much planning and effort that could be going into work. Christina listened to the silent concern and started to make a plan. A plan to optimize Ruby's happiness and secure their son some opportunities. She could not marry her in daylight as herself (that would only cause more visible shame) but she did have a potion. Ruby would be marrying William not her and she would just have to get over any upset she had. Upset that Ruby would always remain attached in some way to a man that didn't really exist.

Swallowed discomfort and a vial of potion lead to one night in late February. It is not a special day, just a warm Thursday afternoon. Spring was early and their garden breathes life again. William put on a nice outfit, got Clio to Hippolyta's, and waited with dinner for Ruby to get home from work. Ruby was suspicious immediately, but enjoyed the gestures of romance. Including the bottle of wine they shared together outside. William the custom ring in front of her for 10 full minutes until she realized what was happening.

She said yes.....to him.

Christina curses her past for not allowing them to fall together without the excess drama. Maybe then she could feel secure in the way Ruby whispers I love you before bed. Her mind often concocts that those words aren't meant for her but him. They sleep with a pillow between them on nights where it's too chilly to be alone or sleep in his skin. There are times when the pillows shift and she lies in his place instead of him as an imposter. Grace instead of strength becomes the place where Ruby's head rests dormant. 

Soft fingers have sat on her palm drawing symbols until she's fast asleep in Ruby's arms. It wasn't enough to convince her that she wasn't living a life William never got to have. Ruby can't and shouldn't be in love with her and the magic that surrounds her. It is a heavy cross to bear, feeling sorry for yourself while having the world. Christina can only blame herself for promoting herself to fiancé. A promotion that involved shelling out thousands of dollars to fast track the ceremony. She stood in the mirror looking at his face while combing his hair back. The barber did a good job this morning. He straightens the red rose pinned to the lapel of a new bespoke suit in cream and white. "We look good, I look good," she hums. He exits his room and prays that the less than 5 months planning the third biggest day in her life went well.

Marriage was not an easy decision for Ruby to settle on at all. It was not because she didn't love the other person who stood across that aisle hours ago. She loves Christina beyond the way her heart beats faster around the blonde. Ruby loves the way Christina looks when she wakes in the morning. A fussy face of exhaustion woken up by Ruby's movements. Then a softness of curiosity taking over. She loves William's hands gripping at her sides as she cooks dinner or as he passes her at the sink. Ruby loves them both and she is sure of that. Yet her body and mind are disconnected fully upon their engagement.

Signing the court papers yesterday made things legal, but the ceremony was a tangible effort. Her dress was everything she dreamed it would be since she was eight, a mix of traditional and non traditional. It fit her perfectly but seeing her reflection in the mirror exiting the hired car spooked her. It spooked her so bad that she does not remember Leti walking her down the aisle or the look on his face seeing her for the first time. Too worried about stumbling over her heels since she could not see a thing behind her veil. (If she had she would have fallen in love with his eyes all over again because they were 'hers' and not his.) They exchanged vows after some words from the pastor about commitment and God. Reading vows was easy if you pretend they are just lines in a play, these vows were special. Each reader lacked the expected emotional fervor but their words felt more heartfelt and intense. Ruby started her pre-written vows short and they took a life of their own until she was talking to the woman behind his face. She never intended on that. William held his composure but recited his lines perfectly from memory. Christina wrote her own vows while Ruby napped on her lap one afternoon. He didn't have to try or struggle to remember the words that encompassed her hopes and dreams for them and their future. Tears and sniffling welled up in their ceremonies audience but they both did not produce either. Just a shared look to convey how over dramatic these things could be.

Solid gold bands grounded them to one another in a union void of time and death. Hearing "I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Braithwhite," from the pastor's lips smacked them both into reality and Ruby was surprised. Surprised by the look in her husband's eyes of fear and the feeling of his soft lips connecting to hers. His finger more recently dipped into her Vaseline so often she bought him his own. The feeling that surprised her entirely was the absolute comfort she felt in his arms in front of everyone. 

Planning the wedding was easier than they expected it to be. Outside sources told them how difficult it would be especially with such little time but they worked in tandem. Tic even mentioned how well they planned together. Ruby decided on color schemes and glassware and Christina picked the day and the church. Ruby did not care too much when they got married as long as it was before Clio started school. Most kids started in September and Ruby wanted their son to go to school "normal". The grief she received from giving Christina 5 months to plan an entire wedding was worth it in her eyes. Christina cared about the timing and the location of their union like it was another planned ceremony. One without a blood sacrifice this time. The church had an essence that Christina hoped the photographer she hired would capture. Doing precise math and coordination she set her eyes on a specific day but it was in December. Trying to persuade Ruby on anything past September was not happening. A harsh look of rejection she received mentioning pushing the wedding back was enough for her to move on. In red pencil she crossed out December and circled July 6th before making a flurry of calls. 

A partial lunar eclipse was better than no eclipse.

 _July 6th_

The ceremony was small mostly because they both did not have much family. Marvin drove up to Chicago with his fiancé and Leti helped her get ready for the day. She also had a small handful of close friends who could attend the ceremony with their plus ones. It made Ruby a bit sad for her opposite, with only three people on their side of church benches. One was her lawyer and the two others residents of Ardham. Christina did not seem the least bit bothered by the short wedding or the even shorter rehearsal. The blonde was firm about not wanting to do a song and pony dance in front of too many weird stares until she had to. Keeping up the act of William would tire her enough at the reception and the bottles of special "wine" for her would run out too fast. Being in William's skin, but as herself in front of a pastor and the few people who knew who she was behind this man's face was much more relaxing. Especially on a day her blood pressure was leaving her slightly lightheaded.

Food and wine fixed that as she stared, impressed, finally seeing their shared vision actualized. A candlelit dinner and ballroom filled with their large guestlist. They had people to impress here, scholars, neighbors, musicians, and business men that fished for Ruby's talent. William sat handsomely next to Ruby inattentive to conversations his wife held with their many invited guests, she was better at it than them. Christina listened to the band play as everyone ate their food. It was beautiful with no major hitches and it was their night to remember. William shared glances with Ruby for the rest of the night and he hopes the hired photographer caught at least one. 

Ruby sips her bourbon and captures as much of this in her memory box as she can. She watches her now husband sway their five year old around the dance floor as the band plays. Clio is laughing in his fathers arms as he is swung to the tempo. She knew she should be dancing with them but being a spectator had its own charm. Plus she had danced plenty in this off white tailored cocktail dress. Enough that her feet were tired of being twirled and trotted around. The tiered vanilla and red velvet cake had been cut and pieces were scattered on each table. The bar was still open and full, just like the dancefloor, while some guests had left, many stayed for the celebration. She sips her drink again and finds Leti dancing to swing music with Atticus, a smile on her face. This is far nicer than Ruby expected it to be with his colleagues mingling with her people. 

"I shouldn't doubt him," she thinks.

Her drink in hand she made her way to an empty hallway in search of a window. She finds one with a chair close by so that she can rest her feet for a minute or two. The moon now looks down at her hung in the sky partially blushed red like a cookie dipped in red milk. 

"When did I get here," Ruby asked herself, "When did i decide this is what i want." This is what she wants.

"It's beautiful isn't it." A deep voice cuts through her thoughts.

"It is," Ruby responds without moving to look at her husband. She does sense him moving closer into the corner of her eye. She hears the squeak of his shoes on the tile before he leans against the ledge next to her.

"Stop looking at me Christina," Ruby whispers, cutting her eyes at him. His suit jacket is gone exposing a cream waistcoat and his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. The collar of his shirt is unbuttoned but starch stiff. She burrows her eyes up and down at him before meeting that gaze. "...Especially like that, maybe look at the moon since you were so hell bound on tonight."

He grins and glances to the sky, "You are the most beautiful woman I've laid my eyes on, besides myself."

Ruby finishes the last sip of her drink, "You sure are charming tonight Braithwhite."

"Am I Mrs. Braithwhite?" William scratches at his wrist but still looks towards the ruddy space rock.

Ruby watches his face wince as he itches away pain, "I'm sorry you have been in there for so long."

William shrugs and quickly downs a small vial from his pockets. "It is fine."

"Hmm no," Ruby watches him settle, "It's not and I understand if you want to leave the reception ear....."

"It is called a blood moon," William stares at her and raises a brow towards the moon. "Well a partial one."

"Oh really you didn't make that up," Ruby jokes switching from the topic he clearly wanted to avoid.

William points, "No no no it's explained in the...."

She cuts them off, "You know I was there in the cellar with you while you scanned farmers almanacs and sky guides..... But why the blood moon?"

"Yes I do, this is my wedding gift to you Ruby Baptiste. Finding something that showed you how serious I am about doing right by you and our son was very hard. You are quite difficult, you know." Ruby rolls her eyes at him and he continues, "We were connected not so long ago through blood and blood magic. This is the closest I could get to giving you the actual moon without ending us both."

"I am in **this** with you Wil...Christina." Ruby nods to the man who is not just a man in front of her. 

William sends a rare sad smile her way, "I know and I know this takes a lot of trust. Thank you for trusting me."

"This is almost as good as your vows." Ruby stands up letting her glass sit on the chair and moves closer to his arms.

"Were they that good," He whispers as his hand clasps around her waist."

Ruby leans in pressing a long kiss to her husband's lips, that should be enough of an answer.

William breathes into her mouth, "I'll recite them again now if you'd like."

Ruby mumbles no cupping his face and kissing his words away. His hands resting firmly on her waist pulling her body closer to his. A flash goes off and they both disconnect to see Leti and the photographer both holding cameras in hand.

"What the hell," William whispers into Ruby's ear.

Ruby glares her sister down, "Seriously Letitia."

William rolls his eyes playfully at his now sister in law scuttling back to the dancefloor. Before his wife gets too far away again he is pulling her closer. He sears a kiss into her lips that leaves her breathy after separating. Ruby uses her thumb to remove traces of lipstick on his face. She takes his hand in hers and holds her empty glass in the other. William slowly leads them back to the celebration without words. Why would they need more words after that.

Ruby makes love to her wife in their hotel room that night. For several hours she melds the idea in her head of husband vs wife. For tonight she doesn't wrestle with reluctance or doubt over the one. In their pre-honeymoon suite she allows herself to have a wife. A wife who cries out Ruby like she is finding heaven and claws at her skin for a taste of her. The wife who bent the world's will and would break hell for her. Her wife who called to the moon with intention for her.

_June 25th 1964_

Christina rocks her son in her arms as he drifts far into his dreams. It has taken her time but the ability to get him to sleep has been mastered. When he is fussy and too stubborn to rest she breaks out this old trick. She doesn't know how this will work or how long they will get these cherished moments. He will one day be too big to be in her arms but she will try. His legs hang from under her arm where they used to curl perfectly to. She kisses the top of his curls and listens to his baby snores as she places him in his bed.

Padding back down the hallway in her slippers and robe she follows the sound of humming and music into her backyard. Her lips pull at the ends and she doesn't fight the reflex anymore. No matter the body she can't help the smile that forms in the presence of this woman. It's a smirk at her lips and a wide grin in her eyes. Christina slips her hand from her pocket with an envelope and sits next to her wife on the chaise. She sits the envelope in front of Ruby before grabbing the cup of tea obviously left for her.

Ruby glances at her wife and then the envelope, "What is this ?"

"A late anniversary gift," Christina sips her tea and waits for Ruby to open the card.

Ruby looks oddly at the envelope before quickly opening it and pulling out the card. It's a simple white card with a single flower printed on the front. She traces a finger before opening the card to a letter. Her eyes swirl over the refined penmanship of her wife's wrist. Line after line she inches closer to the blonde anxiously tapping her heel. Ruby drops her hand to the woman's knee and grasps lightly at the last few words. 

"We get our moon tonight, a promise I will never forget our blood moon. To my wife I love you.

Your husband, Christina Braithwhite."

Christina sips from her mug and thrums the hand on her knee. Gazing up into the full reddish orange moon she whispers the vows she remembers. 

Ruby wipes her own tears away with her free hand before pressing her lips to a sharp cheek. "I love you too," she sighs before resting her head on her husband's shoulder. Together they watch the total lunar eclipse basking in the beauty of the blood moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to write this wedding.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts as always and for those wanting smut it will be in their California adventures which will have parts. Did you really think Christina Braithwhite is only going to the most magical place on earth? With Ruby for a wife? Also in my head the photo the photographer took has the eclipse in the window Ruby and William lip locked in black and white. They probably have framed in their hallway to gloat if people come over haha.  
> ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡


End file.
